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Accepted Paper:

Teaching and learning halal sex: an exploration of values among Muslim young adults in Sydney, Australia  
Lisa Irving (Macquarie University)

Paper short abstract:

This paper considers the reflections of young Muslims whom have experienced public school sex education in NSW, which is viewed by some as moralising. Using ethnographic examples, I explore how Muslims engage with discourses of morality and values as individuals first and community members second.

Paper long abstract:

This paper considers the reflections of some young, unmarried Muslims whom have experienced sex education in public schools and explores their conceptualisations of sex and values. Based on anthropological research in multicultural and multi-religious Sydney, I will observe that sex education in public schools can be perceived as a moralising force that does not allow for alternative moralities and is seen ultimately as being part of a larger secularising and assimilatory agenda of the Australian state. Such perceptions can polarise opinions among young Muslims and make some feel as if they must choose between opposing categories of 'Muslim values' and 'Australian values' in articulating their own understandings of sexual ethics and morality. This tension is then compounded by certain political and media discourses that stereotype Australian Muslims as being somehow unable to fully adapt to an equally stereotyped 'mainstream Australian culture', which in turn contributes to an environment that facilitates 'us/them' comparisons among both Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. Inclusive of Muslims of various theological stances, degrees of self-defined religiosity, sexualities and gender identities, this paper seeks to demonstrate the fragility of the us/them dichotomy that may be constructed either between communities, or indeed between researcher and researched. Taking the often controversial topic of the presentation of sexuality education in schools as an illustration, I hope to show that individuals engage with and manipulate discourses according to their needs as individuals first, and community members second.

Panel Rel02
New perspectives on Muslim moralities
  Session 1